‘Natinals’ error explained

It was the uniform company’s fault that Washington Nationals Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman wore jerseys reading ‘Natinals’ during a game last week, according to Majestic Athletic, the company that designed the misprinted shirts.

Dunn and Zimmerman donned the shirts that were missing an ‘O’ for the first three innings of Washington’s 3-2 loss to the Florida Marlins on Friday night. They eventually changed into jerseys with the team nickname spelled correctly.

“All of us at Majestic Athletic want to apologize to both the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for accidentally omitting the ‘O’ in two Nationals jerseys,” Majestic Athletic president Jim Pisani said in a statement distributed at Nationals Park on Tuesday.

This is coming right before the Nationals decided to total revamp their bullpen.

After starting the season 0-6, Washington’s first homestand of the year wasn’t much more pleasant. The Nationals sent centerfielder Lastings Milledge to the minors April 14 and got rid of three relievers April 19 after three blown leads turned what could have been a weekend sweep of the Marlins into three losses.

Nationals 4, Braves 3

However, with a revamped and more confident bullpen, Washington is back on track. For the second straight night, the Nationals preserved a one-run lead in the ninth, with closer Joel Hanrahan hanging on to record the save. Rookie right-hander Shairon Martis set the tone with six strong innings to earn his second win in three starts.

Back to back wins over the Braves give the Nationals a 3-10 record. Still nothing to be proud of but more of a glimpse of hope for the pesky Nats.